


Be My Prince

by Shugo_Ookami



Category: DRAMAtical Murder, DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Aoba and Sei are Princes, M/M, Noiz is a pirate, Pirate and Prince AU, mizuki is a chore boy, mizusei will be later on but its there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-03 04:56:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2838803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shugo_Ookami/pseuds/Shugo_Ookami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba, a King’s son, is captured by rogue pirates; Noiz is the ship’s captain who is infatuated with Aoba from the very start. Aoba of course doesn’t quite care for the other at all but eventually gives in and allows Noiz to pamper him.<br/>During all of this, Mizuki is back at the palace with Sei trying to convince Sei that he isn't right for him and that Sei deserves better than a chore boy. Sei believes otherwise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Don't You Know Who I Am?

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically part of the NoiAo 15 Kisses and I might just add this first chapter into that series but this chapter is what spawned this AU of mine and I hope you enjoy it!

The first thing Aoba noticed when he came to was that the floor underneath him was rocking. And it was making him feel sick. Groaning, he tried to move only to freeze when he realized he couldn’t actually move his arms or legs at all. “The hell?” He slurred, trying to look around to see what was holding him down. Shifting his arms slightly, he realized there was some sort of material used to tie him up. It wasn’t rope. It was too soft to be rope and it wasn’t chafing his arms or legs like he knew rope would. It must be some sort of cloth. Sighing heavily, he let his head lay against the hard floor. His body ached; head hurt and his arms were starting to fall asleep. He tried calling out to whoever had done this to him but when he tried to yell, all he could do was gasp and cough. Great, now his throat hurt after that coughing fit. Sighing again, he looked around to try and get a bearing on his surroundings. But of course all he could see where crates, barrels, a few hammocks and what he thought were a few swords but he couldn’t really tell. Without much to do at this point, Aoba settled back down and tried to shimmy his way out of the bindings around his wrist. He should have known something like this was bound to happen to him some day. His “father” was King of Midorijima and even though he was technically illegitimate (the public wasn’t aware of this, or that he had a younger twin brother), he was still the Prince and was the only heir to the throne at the moment. And unless the King’s true wife suddenly had a son, Aoba was going to be King some day and he had quite the price over his head. He had been told all his life that there was a chance he would be captured and held for ransom by strange people who could possibly hurt him. He just hadn’t thought it would actually happen to him. Hell, he was sure Sei would be the first one of the two of them to get kidnapped with how quiet and weak the younger was. Not him. He had been distracted though. Well, that’s what he was trying to convince himself was what had happened. He had been walking down the stream pretty far from the palace when he had been ambushed and a cloth had gone over his face. Next thing he knew, he was on this ship. Which was rocking. A lot. And it was making him nauseas. 

There was a loud bang, causing Aoba to jump violently and groan in pain at the sudden movement as it caused him to knock his head against the floor roughly. As he tried to readjust himself on the floor again, he glanced up to look at the person who had slammed the door open. He blinked a few times, trying to focus on the male’s face before he was suddenly hoisted up onto his feet. He stumbled but was roughly pulled back so he would fall over. “Quit moving. You’re just going to fall on to your face. And he wouldn’t want that.” Came a very irritated voice.

“He?” Aoba groaned, his head spinning as the other pushed him forward slightly before he understood that NOW the other wanted him to move. He took a few uneven steps before he finally got a hold of the rocking of the boat and was able to walk evenly along the floor. Getting no response, he glanced at the other but quickly looked away when he got glared at. “Sorry.” He grumbled, looking ahead of him as he tried to map out everything to see if he could get away at some point. He was brought up a couple flights of stairs until they were standing in front of a door which no doubt held the man this guy seemed to work for. 

“Boss!” The man yelled out as he knocked rapidly against the door. “Got the guy from below deck. Who is this anyway?” He asked, glancing at Aoba again as he waited for the door to open up and reveal his boss. “Seems too fancy for a nobleman honestly.”

Aoba looked at him levelly. He wasn’t sure if he was more surprised that this guy didn’t know who he was or that the guy didn’t know why he was here on the ship in the first place. Blinking in surprise, he stared at him for a few moments before his head turned to the door as it opened up to reveal a very disheveled looking male who yawned heavily and motioned for the two of them to come into his room. He felt the push on his back and snapped his head back to glare at the other and he felt the hand retreat immediately before he turned his attention forward again and walked into the room. “You wanna untie me now or do I have to do it myself?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched the two males stare at him. He heard a snicker and felt his rage rise. “Don’t believe I can do it?” He snapped, twisting his wrists slightly and felt the cloth slacken just slightly. He inwardly smirked at his accomplishment; he continued to move his wrsits around until he got the cloth completely undone. He brought his arms back around him and held up the cloth only to come face to face with whom he assumed was the captain of this ship. Eyes wide, he stared up slightly at the other. He had sandy blonde hair and piercing green eyes as well as piercings going through his eyebrow. Actually, this man had piercings practically everywhere. Blinking, he felt his rage subside and fear slowly crept up. “Did it.” He whispered, swallowing thickly as he watched the man’s eyes scan over him and then slowly down him and then back up to his face. Before he could do anything else, the man had kissed him roughly. Yelping in surprise, Aoba tried to jump back and ended up pushing the blonde away from him as well. “What the hell!” He yelled, a hand going up to his mouth and rubbed at his lips quickly. “Who the hell do you think you are? Kissing me like that!” 

The man merely smirked and waved off the other male. “Leave. I can deal with him.” His voice made Aoba shiver slightly. He wasn’t expecting such a deep voice. Or something so…calm sounding. He had thought the blonde would be infuriated with Aoba’s outburst. But he wasn’t. He was calm and it made Aoba very wary. He heard the other male leave and couldn’t help but tense up a bit more now that he was alone with the blonde. “Calm down, Your Highness.” 

Aoba glared at him. “How much do you want?” He asked, not calming down in the slightest. He was more than just pissed. He was furious. How dare this man kiss him. He was the damn Prince of Midorijima. Illegitimate Prince of Midorijima but still the Prince nonetheless. The other started laughing loudly, making Aoba’s eye twitch in irritation. “What the hell is so funny?”

“Nothing. There’s no way to gauge the price of what I want.” He said, leaning against a desk easily. He saw the confusion on Aoba’s face and couldn’t help but smirk again at the prince. “I don’t think you can put a price on yourself.”

“What?” Aoba blinked, staring at the other before his face slowly went bright red, as he understood what the other wanted from him. “N-N-NO! Absolutely not! What the hell is wrong with you?” He backed up slightly until he hit the wall and tried to back up further as the blonde got closer to him. He let out a yelp as the other placed his hands on either side of the Prince’s head. “Stop this. You won’t gain anything out of this.” He said, his voice wavering slightly. He mentally cursed himself for letting his fear take hold of him. “You’re nothing but a lowlife, you…you…”

“Noiz.” Noiz said, watching Aoba fluster about to try and think of something to call him. No doubt he was trying to find something rude to call him but couldn’t think of anything at that very moment. “My name is Noiz. I’m the captain of this ship and you’re now going to be a part of this ship. You should be thanking me honestly. I saved you.” He said, not moving away from the other but he moved one hand away from the wall and down Aoba’s side. He felt the smaller male shiver as his hand slide down his bare side near his hips. Noiz was silently thanking whomever dressed Aoba for dressing the other in something like a belly dancer would wear. “That father of yours was planning on killing you, you know.” He whispered, pressing closer to him. He could feel Aoba shaking now. “I was hired to kill you. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” Continuing on with talking even though he could feel Aoba tense up. “He wanted you gone. He was going to use your younger brother as a front for the throne and have you seen as a runaway who had run off with a lover. You wouldn’t want to be killed now would you?” He murmured, leaning closer to the other but froze when he heard Aoba mumble something. “Hm?”

“I said get off.” Aoba whispered, looking at the other with a look that Noiz couldn’t place. He didn’t move at first but eventually gave in to the other’s words and backed up just slightly. Aoba didn’t look at him but instead looked down at his feet as he processed the other’s words. “Liar.” He whispered eventually, looking up with anger in his eyes. “He wouldn’t do that.”

There was the denial Noiz had been waiting for. Sighing, he went to his desk and pulled out a letter. Moving back over to the shaken prince, he held out the letter to him and raised an eyebrow. “Read it.” He said and let Aoba take it from him and read it before suddenly the letter was pushed back into his hand. He took it back calmly and put it back into his desk before he spun around as he heard a loud thud. It took him a moment before he realized it was Aoba who had made that noise as he slid down onto the floor and sat there in a daze. Sighing, he moved over to him and knelt in front of him. “Believe me now?” He asked, receiving a nod in return. “Want to go back home now?” Aoba shook his head. “So you’ll stay here then.” He said, not as a question but as a demand. Aoba looked up at him slowly with a small glare. “Hey, we’re out in the middle of the ocean. You won’t be getting anywhere any time soon, Your Highness.” He got a full on glare this time and honestly, he was pretty happy he got the other to react that way for him. 

“Don’t go getting ideas. I’m not staying here on my own free will you know. I was kidnapped and forced onto this rocking disaster.” Aoba grumbled, bringing his hands up to push at the other’s shoulders. Noiz was too close for his liking but he should have known that the other wouldn’t have let him do that without taking control of the situation. He sqwaked as Noiz grabbed at one of his wrists, still slightly tender from being bound up earlier, and kissed the back of his hand gently. “H-Hey! What did I say about getting ideas?!” He yelled, trying to pull his hand away from the other’s grip but it didn’t work as Noiz only held onto him tighter. He stopped squirming as Noiz looked at him sternly. “O-okay okay.” He mumbled, relaxing a bit as he looked away. He felt his cheeks heat up slightly as he heard Noiz chuckle lowly. He felt lips against the back of his hand again and felt his cheeks grow hotter. “OKAY YOU’RE DONE!” He yelped, pulling his hand again and this time was successful as Noiz let go this time and he leaned back against the wall heavily. 

“Welcome to my ship.” Noiz said with another low chuckle.


	2. Suddenly A Bodyguard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mizuki has a day off of chores for once but of course that gets disrupted by a few things. One of those things just happens to be a certain hidden Prince he his quite fond of.

“Mizuki…Mizuki!...MIZUKI!” 

Mizuki groaned and rolled over on his mound of pillows, not wanting to wake up. It was his day off after all. He wasn’t going to get up early on his only day off he’s had in months. So as the person outside his room continued to yell his name, he ignored it even if that voice was getting more and more annoying. When the yelling finally stopped, he let out a happy sigh and relaxed against his pillows again happily. He was just slipping back into sleep when he heard quiet shuffling. Like someone was trying to hide the fact they were in his room. Tensing up, he slowly opened his eyes and sat up cautiously. Looking around quickly, he reached under the mound of pillows to grab his knife as he continued searching his room for the intruder. 

“Put that down.” Came a gentle voice, causing Mizuki to whip around only to find a certain Prince smiling at him playfully. 

“Your Highness. You’re supposed to be in bed remember? You’re on bedrest until further notice. Even I was told that.” Mizuki said as he let out a sigh, relaxing a bit. It’d been a while since he’d been able to see the other so he couldn’t help but give a smile to the sickly male. “And if information gets as low as me, then it really must mean something. Go back to your room.”

“So mean, Mizu. And I told you to cut that ‘Your Highness’ crap when it’s just the two of us. I told you that years ago. So why do I also have to remind you? I thought you were smarter than that.” Sei huffed, pouting heavily as he teased the only person (other than his brother) he considered a friend. “I cornered you that day and demanded that you call me by my name. So call me Sei when it’s just us.” He said sternly, giving the other as stern look as he could muster up but it was lost soon after as he felt a wave of nausea hit him heavily. He swayed slightly and wasn’t surprised when he felt hands on his waist firmly. “I’m fine.”

“You are not. Your Hi-Sei, you’re supposed to be in bed. I’ve noticed that you’ve been getting weaker lately. If you keep moving around like this you’re just going to end up having a fit again.” Mizuki murmured, sighing softly as he held the other upright firmly but gently enough to not leave a mark on the other’s hips. “Here. At least sit down if you’re not going to leave me alone.” He mumbled, helping the other down onto his pillows carefully. Once Sei was seated comfortably against his pillows, Mizuki walked off towards a counter and grabbed the pitcher of water and a glass, bringing the full glass of water over to the other. “And drink this. Don’t argue. I know you’re dehydrated. I can see it.”

“They keep putting lemon in the water they give me! I hate lemon!” Sei said, huffing angrily as he took a sip of the water he was offered. “Just wish they’d let you take care of me. You know me better than they do.” He grumbled, sipping at the water quietly. “I’d prefer it that way.”

Mizuki shook his head. Sei always brought this up when they were alone. “Sei, you know they won’t allow that. I’m nothing but a lowly servant boy. They would never allow that. You know how they are about me. They still see me as a street rat.” He sighed as he sat down on the pillows in front of the other. “You’re not eating again.” Sei’s face seemed too thin. He didn’t like it. “You need to eat, Sei.”

Sei turned his head away from the other and took his time in sipping at the water to avoid looking at the other or speaking to him for the time being. But he couldn’t get away from the others intense staring. “Sorry… Everything just makes my stomach hurt these days.” He turned the cup around in his hands slowly so to avoid looking directly at the other. “And they keep feeding me the grossest things. It’s nothing but dry crackers and sour fruits.” He pursed his lips and huffed, finally looking at the other. “They taste awful! Lemon water, dry crackers and sour fruits! And they don’t listen to me when I ask for bread or plain water.” He set the class aside before laying back into the pillows. “This is comfy. Did you make this?” He asked, glancing over at his friend with a smile.

Mizuki watched the other while he ranted and then laid back with a smile. “Yeah I did. Stay put.” He said as he stood up again and walked out of the room. 

Sei watched him quizzically and became restless after Mizuki didn’t return after a short while. But when the door reopened and Mizuki came walking back in with a tray in his hands, Sei sat up and looked at the tray with anticipation. “Please tell me that’s food.” He said, trying to look at what could be on the tray but Mizuki kept lifting it up to avoid the other’s eyes. He pouted up at the other heavily, making Mizuki laugh which in turn made him stop pouting at the sound. He smiled happily; almost wiggling in excitement even at the mere thought that Mizuki had brought him real food instead of the crap his maids had been feeding him for the past week. 

“Calm down calm down.” Mizuki couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Sei wiggle around in the mound of pillows. He sat down next to the other and removed the top of the tray. “Here. Meats, cheeses and fruits.” He murmured, settling the tray on his lap, as he got comfortable again. Sei immediately reached out and took a small piece of the fruit and bit into it with a happy sounding noise. He glanced at the other out of the corner of his eyes and had to look away fairly quickly right after. He would never admit it but he was quite fond of the prince. More than fond in fact. But he wasn’t going to say it out loud to anyone. He was shaken out of his thoughts as he felt a poke to his side. Repeatedly. “Sorry. What?”

Sei had a cheek puffed out as he stared at the other. “You weren’t paying attention to me. I was asking you if you’d seen my brother anywhere lately.”

“Prince Aoba? No. Although I’m not usually allowed to be around him in the first place. You’re…You’re the only one I see regularly. You know that.” Mizuki said, smiling at him crookedly. He saw the look of worry cross the other’s face and felt a little worried now as well. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“He…he hasn’t been seen since he went for a walk…two days ago…I’m…maybe I’m just a worrywart but…I’m worried he’s been hurt.” Sei murmured, lowering his hand back down to the tray of food to pick up a small cube of cheese and popped it into his mouth. He chewed on it slowly, arranging his thoughts before he let out a sigh. “He…Even if he’s not supposed to…He usually comes to see me at least once a day…usually at night to see how I’m doing but he hasn’t…And I asked Mother about it but she said he might just be busy. It is almost time for him to be formally accepted as heir to the throne and shown to the public as such but…” His lips quivered slightly as he got more worried. “He’s not one to do something like that!” He whispered harshly, looking at Mizuki with what the other could only explain as tears of frustration and confusion in his eyes.

“Hey hey. Calm down. Hey, breathe. Slowly. In…Out…” Mizuki said calmly, setting his hands on Sei’s bony shoulders gently and breathed in and out slowly with the other. He waited until Sei had finally settled down. “I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he’s just…He may very well just be busy but I doubt he’s forgotten about you. I bet he’s been waiting for the perfect time to surprise you or something.” Damn he sure hoped that was what Aoba was doing. He didn’t want to believe the rumours he had been hearing amongst the staff in the palace. He refused to believe those rumours in fact. He may not be as close to Aoba as he is with Sei these days but the three of them were closer than anyone actually understood. It was Aoba and Sei’s mother who had rescued him when he was barely 10 years old after all and brought him back to live with them in the palace. He was eternally grateful to her and vowed to always be with her sons no matter what. Sei seemed much more relaxed now which was comforting to see and he was back to nibbling on the food on the tray. But he was also swaying slightly and that brought worry back into Mizuki’s mind. “You need to rest, Sei.” He said softly, watching Sei closely as the other slowly nodded.

“Can I stay here for the time being?” Sei asked, looking at the other tiredly, rubbing at his eyes before following the other’s movement as he set the tray of food to the side. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes more to try and stay awake. “My room is too cold and the bed is uncomfortab-“

“Okay now I KNOW that your bed is not uncomfortable, you liar.” Mizuki laughed, shaking his head before smiling softly at the other and nodded. “You can stay here but if your mother comes for you in the middle of the night I am handing you over to her. I am not willing to suffer her wrath for hiding you ever again.” He laughed, grinning at Sei who was also grinning and nodding as he lay back against the pillows with a happy hum. He looked like he was already half asleep as Mizuki stood up to clear a few things up in his room. He felt a small tug on his pants and looked down to see Sei’s playful smile. “Sei, I’m just going to set this on my table. I’ll be right back. Let go.” He chuckled, wiggling his ankle slightly and smiled when Sei eventually let go of his pant leg. “Thank you.” He hummed before walking over to his table to set the tray down, putting the cover back on top. He froze when he heard a small cough and quickly turned around to see Sei sitting up and a hand over his mouth. He moved back over to the other quickly and set a hand on his back, rubbing in circles soothingly. “Maybe you should go back to your room. It might be better for you.”

Sei shook his head quickly, couching into his arm now. “M’fine.” He murmured after the small coughing fit was over. He reached out for the glass of water but Mizuki had him beat and was already bringing it up to his lips. “Thanks.” He whispered, taking a small drink from it. He pushed the cup away from him gently, the other taking the hint to set it back on the ground. “So...you’re gonna kick me out now?” He asked, pouting slightly as he looked at the other.

Not able to handle the other’s pouting, Mizuki shook his head and sighed. “No. I won’t kick you out but if you start getting really bad I will bring you back. Now just rest okay. No more worrying. I want you to just lie down and get some rest. I might have to run out a bit later but that shouldn’t take up too much of my time.” He saw the look Sei had on his face and quickly added “But it can also wait until tomorrow.” He was glad he said that as Sei’s face lit up happily and he was smiling now. “Now lay back down.” He urged, gently laying Sei back down on the pillows. “There.” He murmured, watching Sei relax again on the pillows. He was about to move again when he felt hands quickly latch onto him. Sighing, Mizuki couldn’t help but chuckle. “Seeeeiiiii.” He whined, looking at the sleepy male who was looking up at him.

“Please lay with me.” Sei whispered, tugging on the other’s shirt to try and get him to lay down with him. _I sleep better with you around._

Mizuki chewed on his lip for a moment, making it look like he was thinking about it heavily before he grinned and nodded. “Yeah sure why not. Lazing about was what I was going to do any way.” Sei grinned at him happily as he wiggled around slightly to make some room but was stopped by Mizuki’s hands on his waist. “Stop. You’re going to move the pillows around.” He said, shaking his head with a grin. _As well as make it hard for me to not try to get you to do that underneath me._ He moved to lie down next to the slender male and slung an arm over his waist. “There. Happy?”

“Much.” Sei whispered, his voice laced heavily with sleep. “Thank you.” It didn’t take much longer before Mizuki could feel Sei’s breathing even out and slow down as the male fell asleep.

Mizuki let his eyes wander about the other’s form for a few moments before he sighed heavily and closed his eyes, resting his head against the side of the other’s head gently. He might as well go back to sleep since he had been ripped from slumber thanks to the other in the first place.  
______________________________________________________________________________  
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Mizuki grumbled, hearing knocking on his door and his name being called out. “Again? Can’t I get any peace here?” He was definitely not happy about being woken up for the second time that day. He shifted slightly and froze as he heard Sei mumble slightly in irritation about Mizuki moving. “Shh. Someone’s at my door. Go back to sleep.” At least Sei understood him and merely let go of the other so he could get up and answer the insistent knocking at his door. “Yes yes. I’m coming!” He called out, walking over to the door while yawning. He opened it up and was surprised to see Sei’s mother there. “H-Hello. Wait. Sorry. Sei’s here. He’s asleep. He was coughing earlier and I wanted to bring him back to his room but he wouldn’t move and I didn’t want to carry him in case it caused him more discomfort. I’m very sorry-“

“Mizuki. Aoba’s been kidnapped.” She said seriously. Mizuki froze and stared at the woman in from of him. “Pick your jaw up.” She hissed, putting two fingers under the other’s chin and pushed his jaw up gently. “Don’t make a fuss. Sei will only worry and that’ll make him worse.” She felt the boy nod and watched him glance back into his room. She followed his gaze and saw Sei on the mountain of pillows Mizuki called a bed. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight. “He always complains that your bed is much better than his and that he wants to just sleep in here all the time.” She shook her head with a fond smile. “He’s fond of you. Always talking about how he wants to see you and be with you. He rarely smiles around us unless you’ve been mentioned of he’s come back from seeing you.” Her eyes clouded over slightly with sadness. “Aoba’s fond of you too. Although he’s a much happier child than Sei is…he’s fond of you as well.”

Mizuki felt his cheeks flare up slightly. “I-Is there nothing asked for Aoba’s return?” He asked softly, trying to divert the conversation for the time being. He cleared his throat and looked at the woman he’s come to consider a mother. “Ma’am….Haruka, please don’t worry about Aoba…I bet he’s giving whoever has kidnapped him a lot of hell. He’s such a spitfire I bet they’re trying to find the best time to return him.” At least he got her to crack a smile.

“I can see it happening. It’s just…we haven’t received any ransom notes or any requests from them at all. It’s worrying. And…Naine can’t think of anyone he’s had disputes as of late who have threatened him or the family.” Haruka said softly before quickly glancing into the room as she heard rustling. She let out a soft sigh as she noticed that Sei was just moving around on the pillows. “Please…until we figure something out…stay by his side. I’ll have it arranged so that everyone knows that you are going to be pretty much his bodyguard from here on out until Aoba is back. Please watch him.” She whispered, begging to Mizuki.

Mizuki blinked rapidly before he realized what was being said to him. “Y-Yes, Ma’am!” He said quickly. He let out a surprised grunt as Haruka suddenly hugged him tightly.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” She whispered, kissing his cheeks. “You mean a lot to him and I want you to be with him in case…in case things don’t work out to the best outcome.” She murmured before giving him one last hug before walking away quickly.

Mizuki stood there for a moment in surprise before he swallowed thickly and slowly shut the door. He heard Sei shifting around again before letting out a sleepy mumble of “Mizuki?”. He made sure the door was shut firmly before going back over to the pillows and laid back down. “Shh. I’m right here. Go back to sleep. I got some good news to tell you about later.”

Sei looked up at him clearly wanting to ask questions. “Was that Mom?” He asked softly, shifting closer to Mizuki who just let the other shift closer and put his arms around him gently. Mizuki felt Sei swallow and he knew what the other was going to ask next. “Did she want me to come back to our part of the palace?”

Or maybe he wasn’t going to ask about Aoba. Mizuki chuckled softly. “Yes that was her. But she said you can stay here…and that I’m going to be assigned as your bodyguard starting tonight.” He murmured.

Sei’s eyes flew open and he squirmed around slightly until he was face to face with the other and sitting up slightly to look down at Mizuki in surprise. “REALLY?!” He squeaked, his eyes wide.

Laughing, the older male nodded at him. “Yes. Now lay back dooooown, Sei. I wanna go back to sleep.” He whined, laughing as Sei nodded quickly and all but flopped down onto his chest. “Oof. Okay so now I’m your pillow?” He teased but he didn’t get a response. Sei was already fast asleep with a smile on his lips. He slipped his arms around Sei’s slender waist and held him gently. He wanted to hold onto the other forever and pretend that everything wasn’t going to go to hell.

_God how am I going to keep this secret from him?_


	3. He’s Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba gets seasick and Noiz gets possessive (kinda)  
> Warning: mild vomiting caused by seasickness

It wasn’t easy to get used to the rocking of the ship. It not only made Aoba lose his footing but it made him dizzy and sick. He wasn’t quite sure if it was seasickness as he’d been on boats before but nothing like this. Those ones had been top of the line, sturdier than anything that was on the sea already and they sure as hell didn’t rock like this one did. He threw out a hand to balance himself, slapping it against the wooden table near him and clutched at the edge of it as tightly as he could.

“Still not used to it I see.” Came the all too familiar mocking tone of one Captain of the very ship that was causing Aoba’s distress. Well, said Captain was also the cause of his distress but the boat was quickly overtaking that.

“Shut up. The rocking is making me sick.” Aoba spat out, glaring at Noiz. 

“Oh I do apologize. I’ll tell the waves to stop so our dear Prince can hold down some food in his stomach.” Noiz said, leaning against the door easily. He made walking around and doing daily things upon this wretched vessel seem so easy and yet Aoba couldn’t do more than walk five feet before he was feeling sick. And it was already three days now that he had been on this blasted thing. Noiz raised an eyebrow at the face Aoba was making before he realized what was going on and quickly rushed over to him with a bucket, pushing the man’s face down into it just in time as he heard vomit splash into the bucket. Wrinkling his nose, Noiz waited until he was sure Aoba was done before he pulled the vile smelling bucket away from the other’s face. “Suppose that didn’t help.”

Aoba breathed heavily through his nose, feeling his eyes well up. “Shut up.” He whispered, his angry tone gone and replaced with embarrassment. He was starting to shake and it wasn’t from the boat this time. He was embarrassed and upset and now he felt worse than before. He watched as Noiz carried the bucket to the door and handed it off to someone to clean out. His knuckles were starting to turn white from how tight he was gripping the edge of the table and his legs felt like they were about to give out at any moment now. Just as he was about to give in to the collapsing, Aoba felt an arm loop around his waist and hold him up firmly. “Let go.”

“Nope. You can hardly stand and I’m not going to let you throw up again. That was a horrible smell.” Noiz said simply, half carrying the lighter male over towards the bed that he had designated as Aoba’s for the time being. Well, the bed that Aoba had designated as his own after he found out that Noiz wanted him to sleep in his. There had been quite the argument over that before Noiz had given in to Aoba’s demands and gave him the room that was connected to his own. And then barred up the other door so that the only way Aoba could leave was to go through Noiz’s room first. Before he knew it, Aoba was being pushed down onto the bed and held there firmly. “Stay.”

Watching the blond walk off, Aoba could only stare in confusion as to what the other had in mind but before he could really think it through, Noiz was back and he was carrying something. “Oh no. I’m not touching anything you’re thinking of giving me.” He said quickly, scooting back on the bed until his back touched the wall of the ship. He backed up as far as he could, almost up the wall before he felt the wave of nausea hit him again. He let out a pathetic groan and slumped over, holding his stomach tightly. There was a heavy sigh and something pushed near his mouth. He fought against it for a moment but when one of Noiz’s fingers pried open his mouth, he ended up gagging and something was shoved into his mouth swiftly and his jaw held shut tightly.

“Suck on it. It’ll help.” Noiz said with such a tone that Aoba momentarily froze before listening to his instructions and the grip on his jaw loosened until it was merely cradling his jaw gently. “There. It’ll take a bit but it’ll help. It’s peppermint. Heard about it one day while on shore in the market. Bought out the entire place just for the hell of it. Didn’t think I’d actually ever have to use it.” He could hear Aoba sucking on the small piece of peppermint. The other wasn’t looking at him, no doubt embarrassed again but he sure was looking at the other. His thumb started moving on it’s own before he could realize what he was doing but he didn’t stop or halt the movement. He merely wanted for Aoba to relax and get used to being on the ship. He was going to be here for quite some time after all. He rubbed at the other’s jaw with his thumb lightly, settling himself down next to Aoba comfortably. At least Aoba seemed to have calmed down a bit now. He wasn’t as twitchy to get away as he was moments ago. That was a plus. 

He was going to hate admitting to Noiz but the peppermint really did help his stomach. He no longer felt like he was going to throw up what little he had left in his stomach now. Swallowing a little bit, Aoba peeked at the blond before quickly averting his eyes again. Noiz seemed preoccupied with stroking his face. Another thing he wasn’t going to admit but he was rather enjoying the feeling and it was helping him calm down. Unconsciously, Aoba started to lean into the touch with a small sigh. “Thanks.” He whispered, closing his eyes a bit. “Feel better.” He murmured, leaning further into the other until he practically had his head against the other’s shoulder.

Noiz grunted in response before he fully realized what was going on. Tensing up, he stopped moving his thumb and stared down at the mess of hair that he now had his nose practically pressed against. He didn’t really want to move but he knew that if they stayed like this any longer, he was going to try something on the other and as much as he really wanted to do that he didn’t want to completely ruin things. He continued to stroke the prince’s face before he stilled and pulled away gently. He cleared his throat and stood up, watching as Aoba placed a hand out quickly to steady himself as he blinked rapidly. “Whenever you’re steady enough. Meet me up top.” His tone was back to its usual emotionless sound.

“Kay.” Aoba mumbled, watching as Noiz swiftly turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind him just as quickly as he had left. It took him a while longer before he felt his stomach completely settle but once he was completely ready, Aoba stood up from his bed and tested walking around for a small while. It wasn’t as bad anymore. He didn’t feel like throwing up any time soon. Thankfully. He waited a few more minutes before he finally took a few steps towards the door and then tested to see if t was really unlocked. It was. He wanted to be surprised but he had a feeling that Noiz never actually locked it like he said he would. Pushing it open, he made his way through the other’s room and then out of that door as well. What the hell did Noiz want him to do by meeting him up top? Sighing heavily, he grabbed the railings to the steps and walked up them carefully.

It was far too bright out up top and Aoba had to shield his eyes quickly to avoid being totally blinded and fall backwards down the steps. That would be his luck. Once he managed to not be so blinded, he peered around to look for the blond. He got a few strange looks from the shipmates but he that was to be expected when he wasn’t really up top all that much and only a few of them he actually knew by name. “You looking for the Boss?” Turning his head to find who was talking to him, Aoba spotted one of the few guys he actually knew. 

“Uh, yeah. He told me to meet him up here but I don’t see him.” Aoba said distractedly as he continued scanning the area to try and find Noiz. Now that he was actually looking for Noiz, he noticed that there wasn’t anyone up here anymore other than him and the other man. He turned his eyes back to the other with a small smile on his lips. “Deidre right?” 

“The one an’ only. Yeah I dunno where he went. Why don’t you just wait for him with me?” Deidre asked, patting the spot next to him where he sat in the shade. “Think I saw him walk off with Johan and someone else to look over something but I dunno. I don’t really bother with their affairs all too much.”

Shrugging slightly, Aoba hesitated before finally giving in and sitting down next to the other. He felt awkward and a little more than nervous about sitting down next to the other but he wasn’t sure what else he could do in this situation except wait for Noiz to turn up so he could tell him whatever he needed to tell him so he could go back to being a recluse. Sighing softly, he tucked his feet up underneath him and looked out around the boat again. “So…what do you guys actually do?”

“Hm?” Deidre raised an eyebrow, watching the lithe boy look around. “Other than kidnap princes you mean?” That got a snort out of Aoba. “We’re contracted mercenaries mainly. Or we’re contracted to steal things and bring them back to someone or whatever we’re told to do really. Boss finds contracts or they come to us and he decides whether or not to accept them or to say no. Sometimes they’re for higher ups and nobles and sometimes they’re from simple merchants or lower class people. We take what we can if the pay is pretty good and the job is on the simpler side.”

“Contracted killers huh?” Aoba hummed, running a hand through his hair slowly. “So is that the thing with me? Did you guys get a contract to kill me?”

“Eh, I’m not entirely sure what’s up with you. Boss took the contract and then when we grabbed you, he told us to just bring you aboard and that he’ll deal with you later. But I think I see what he wants.” Deidre said, leaning closer to Aoba slowly. The other pulled away slightly out of nerves and slight annoyance.

“And what exactly is it that he wants from me?” The question was asked carefully and now that the other was so close to him, Aoba could see that weird glint in his eyes. He’d seen it before. That odd glint of pure want and greed was evident in this man’s eyes and it was more than creeping him out. “Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it would be easily found or given to him. Is it money he wants? Or land? Or freedom in an area?”

“None of the above, Prince.” Deidre said, leaning in closer to him. He continued to lean in closer until a loud noise near by made him pull away sharply.

Aoba took the opportunity to jump up and move away, more out in the open rather than in the shadows that he had been lured in to. He took a deep breath to steady his rapidly beating heart and looked to where that noise had come from. “Oh. There you are, Noiz.” He said, smiling at the other gratefully. His smile fell just as quickly as it came when he noticed the look on the other’s face.

“Deidre. I told you to tell him that I would be waiting in the study the moment you saw him come up here.” Noiz said evenly, his voice emotionless. Aoba stared at the blond, noting the change in both the way his eyes looked and his body language. He hadn’t known the other for very long but he could tell when the other was just merely annoyed and when he was pissed. And right now? Noiz was pissed. And it seemed he was pissed at Deidre and if looks could kill, Deidre would be dead. More than dead. He’d probably be eradicated. 

The moment Noiz took a small step towards the other male, Aoba finally broke out of the spell and set a hand on Noiz’s arm. “Noiz.” He kept a calm expression on his face as Noiz looked at him from the corner of his eyes. “Calm down.”

Noiz turned his attention back to the man in front of him before he pulled away from Aoba’s touch and grabbed the collar of Deidre’s shirt, pulling him close. “You stay the hell away from him. He’s mine.” He hissed, pushing the other away roughly and watched him scramble away to the other side of the ship. He turned back around to Aoba and raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t let that happen again. They may be nice guys but they don’t get laid very often. And you’re attractive so be careful.”

Aoba stared at him with wide eyes. “Wh-WHAT THE HELL?!” Face red as a tomato, he fidgeted and couldn’t figure out what else to say and just stood there in surprise at Noiz’s words. He looked around frantically to try and turn the attention to something other than himself but there was laughter now and he whirled towards the noise.

It was Noiz! Noiz was laughing, almost doubled over in laughter at him! “Calm down, Princess.” Noiz said, getting over his initial laughter and wiped at his eyes. “You’re attractive. I thought even you knew that.” He chuckled, crossing his arms over his waist to continue watching Aoba have a freak out over the situation. He moved closer to him and set his hands on Aoba’s hips. “Calm down.” He whispered into the other’s ear, smirking as he felt Aoba stiffen and then shiver. “There.” He let go of the other as Aoba swiftly pulled away with an even redder face. 

It took him a few moments to get over the embarrassment but Aoba finally calmed down enough to speak again. “I want to ask you something.” He said, looking at Noiz evenly. “Something Deidre mentioned.”

“The contract.”

Surprised, Aoba just nodded as he leaned against the wall. “Mhm. Is it true? Did…Did my father really set a contract to kill me?” Noiz nodded, his smile falling as he moved over to the wall and leaned against it as well. He watched the Prince sigh. “Can I ask why? Or did he not say anything about it?”

“You’re old enough to take the throne now. He didn’t like that thought. You’re a threat. And you would have made the best King this land has seen in a long time. He really didn’t like that.” 

Aoba tensed and looked off to the side before nodding slowly. “Right. Like I’m going to believe any of that. Father wouldn’t really want to kill me. He’s been teaching me all sorts of things so I can rule the land soon. But I have another question. Why haven’t you killed me?” He asked, looking right into Noiz’s eyes. His eyes held a sadness and slight fear. “You were contracted to kill me. So why aren’t I dead yet?”

“I like you.”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” Aoba pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please don’t tell me that you haven’t killed me just because I’m attractive.”

“Alright.”

“Alright what?”

“I won’t tell you.” Noiz said before sighing heavily, stepping closer to the other again. He set his hands back on Aoba’s hips and looked him in the eyes. “I like you. And I think that the contract that was set on you is bullshit. Most contracts are. You don’t deserve to die just because of who you are.” He whispered, leaning in closer to press his lips against Aoba’s before pulling away. “There’s more mint in my room. We’re going to hit some rough waters here pretty soon. It’s probably best if you go lay down for now.”

And with that, Noiz walked off again with Aoba watching him in shock. Twice now Noiz has pulled that on him but this time he couldn’t push the other away. Watching Noiz pull himself up a ladder and walk out of his view. Running a hand through his hair, he huffed and walked back to the other’s room to search for that mint Noiz mentioned. If the other was being truthful about the rough waters, he definitely wanted to eat some of that mint or else he was going to spend the rest of the day or longer with a bucket in front of his face.


	4. Campfire Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew learns of Aoba's brother. Aoba learns that the contract is real and tries to come to terms with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small in betweener chapter. MizuSei is up next.

It’d been almost two weeks now since he had originally been ‘kidnapped’ by Noiz and his crew. Kidnapped really wasn’t the word. It was more like taken aboard a ship (that constantly made him feel sick) and told to just sit around and relax. He hated it. He liked having something to do or someone to bug or something! All those days spent learning and researching and observing and doing paperwork had seemed so trivial before but now he kind of missed the busy work. 

Sighing heavily, Aoba turned his head to look out the window from where he was lying on the bed he had been taken. It was already dark now. When did that happen? Where did the day go? Sighing again, he sat up slowly so to make sure he didn’t have a repeat of the morning where he managed to throw off his balance so bad he flung himself off the bed. Testing the waters a bit, he set a foot down on the flooring and deemed it safe to stand. Once he was standing, he realized that the boat wasn’t rocking. That was definitely not what had been happening almost nonstop for two weeks. Save for that one time when the sea was absolutely still and they literally could no go anywhere, this was the calmest he had felt the boat be. And he couldn’t hear anyone. He usually heard at least two people talking or yelling from up top but it was dead quiet. Had something happened and he hadn’t realized it? No. Of course not. Making his way to the door, he gently pressed on it to see if it was unlocked and to add onto his surprise, it was. He poked his head into Noiz’s room and peeked around before walking out of his area and towards Noiz’s door. He checked to see if this one was unlocked as well and it was. Something was definitely strange right now.

He carefully made his way up the rickety steps, trying to hear if anyone was up top but again, there weren’t any voices. Hell, there weren’t even any sounds of people walking around. “What the hell is going on here?” He muttered, climbing up the last couple of steps to the top and looked around. No one was around here either. There were always at least three people walking about or leaning against the railing up here. So where were they? He froze when he heard a snap before whipping around to find the source of the noise. He froze yet again when he realized that he could see land. Very close. In fact, they were up on the land. Now in shock and confusion, Aoba was sure he was dreaming at this point. They hadn’t docked once since he was taken aboard this ship. So what was going on now? He walked over to the side of the boat, clinging to the railing as he leaned over to look down. He spotted the crew, around a campfire. No Noiz in sight thought. That struck him as odd. But then again, Noiz was a weird guy and would disappear for hours before reappearing like he had never left and would jump into whatever conversation was going on at the moment. 

“OI!” Aoba jumped, his head whipping towards where the loud yelling had some form. “Whoah. Calm down, Prince Jumpy.” Scowling, Aoba rolled his eyes at the crewmember. Johan, he thinks his name is. “You coming down to join us finally? Been sitting down there for a couple hours now. Boss said you were sleeping and to not disturb you.”  
Aoba stared at Johan, his mouth partially open in surprise. “Uh…Wh…What are you guys doing down there? Where are we anyway?” He avoided asking where Noiz was. Not wanting to seem nosey about his whereabouts. As much as he hated to say it, he was starting to enjoy that asshole’s company. Even if there was nothing but silence between the two of them. He enjoyed having another person near him.

“Chatting around a fire. S’pose you palace folk don’t do this shit.” Johan said, shrugging a bit before he cocked his head a bit to the left with an eyebrow raised. “You comin or what?”

“Nothing better to do up here.” Aoba muttered, scowling again for the comment the other made. He followed Johan to the makeshift ramp and started climbing down it carefully. “And we do stuff like this…just in private so certain people don’t get upset by us having fun.”

“Oh? You’re a rebel then? Don’t listen to Dad and disobey now and then? That should be a surprise but seeing how’ve acted again Boss, I’m not all too shocked about that confession.” He heard Aoba snort as the male landed onto the sand. “Look who’s awake boys!” He called out as he and Aoba made their way to the fire. Johan sat down promptly into a spot before he scooted over slightly to make some extra room for Aoba to sit as well. 

It took a few moments before Aoba finally gave in and sat down next to Johan. He glanced around at the other crewmembers to judge their reactions but all he got were polite nods and the occasional smile from. “For a band of pirates, you guys are…oddly kind.” He blurted out only to realize how stupid that sounded and quickly looked away.

He heard a few of them laugh before someone finally spoke up. “We’re not all bad guys yanno. The Boss took us in when we had nowhere else to go. He used to be some lord’s kid or something like that but then he was exiled or something. Don’t pry too much into his past. He gets distant when you do. Any way. None of us here are killers. Just thieves. We take what we need and save a few people here and there.” The voice trailed off and Aoba looked up with a questioning expression. “Yeah. We don’t kill anyone. Just take them and relocate them. We don’t tell our employers that though.”

“So you…Wait…My father…What he said was true then? Noiz said something about being paid to kill me but I didn’t believe him. I thought he was messing with my head!” Aoba’s breathing picked up as he started to panic. “Oh god, Sei. Sei’s going…I have to get back home somehow! Where are we?!” He looked around frantically and moved to stand up as his panic consumed him but he felt hands pull him down and hold him in his place. “LET GO OF ME!”

“Calm down.” It was Johan who had stopped him. “You need to relax kid. Who’s Sei?”

“My younger twin brother!” Aoba replied quickly, still looking at Johan in a panic. “He’s frail. Always has been since we were born. He’s been hidden from the public to avoid anyone coming after him. Oh god he’s not going to be able to handle someone telling him I’m dead when I’m really not! There has to be a way for me to contact him or…or…something…” He was calming down again but the fear was gripping him with the thought of Sei being sent into a fit because of the news of his brother being killed. There was no way that Sei’s heart could handle something like that at all.

“Calm down, Prince.” Johan said, a hand in the air like he wanted to put it on Aoba’s shoulder but had a small inkling that Aoba would just shove it off anyway. But after a few moments of watching the male tremble in a panic, he put his hand on his shoulder gently. “I’ll talk to Boss or I can bring you to him and we can talk to him.” It was just a suggestion but he wanted to at least figure something out to calm the Prince’s worries. The poor guy looked like he was about to start crying.

Aoba shook his head quickly, swallowing thickly. He couldn’t just up and ask Noiz to do something like this. Plus, there was no garuntee that Noiz would even agree to something like that. “Thanks but I don’t think Noiz would be okay with me asking something like that of him.”

“You’d be surprised what he’ll do for others, Prince.” Johan said with a chuckle. “C’mon let’s go talk to him.” He helped Aoba up and walked with him towards the ship again. “He said he was going to be hanging around on the ship. Something about wanting to drink alone. I don’t know. But if it concerns you, I’m sure he’ll drop whatever it is to help you out.”

“Why?” Aoba asked, genuinely wanting to know why Noiz treated him so kindly. 

Johan paused in his steps for a moment before he chuckled and motioned for Aoba to go on ahead of him to climb up the rope. “I’m not sure I’m supposed to say anything but he has a soft spot for you. Normally in the case of kidnapping Princes like you, he’d relocate them immediately but he’s kept you around for quite some time now.” He waited until Aoba had both feet on the deck before he hauled himself up and landed next to the other. He was about to start walking when he noticed that Noiz was already near them. “Boss!” He called out, waving towards the blond. “You busy right now?”

Noiz raised an eyebrow as he watched them walk over to him. “What is it?” He asked before he took in the panicked look on Aoba’s face. “What’s wrong?” He asked quickly, turning towards him to see if he was hurt anywhere. He turned to Johan again with a slightly irritated look on his face now. “Did someone hurt him?”

“I’m fine!” Aoba said quickly, smacking Noiz’s arm. “It’s just…Is there any way I can contact someone back at the palace?”

“What? Why would you want to do that?” Even if he was a bit irritated by the request, Noiz was interested in what the other wanted by contacting someone there.

Fidgeting, Aoba looked anywhere but at Noiz and Johan sighed heavily and spoke up quickly. “He’s worried about his brother. He’s weak and if he gets told that Aoba is supposedly dead. It could kill him. I’m sure there someone in the palace that Aoba could contact that could keep his brother calm and safe.”

“Mizuki.” Aoba said quickly. “He’ll be able to keep a secret and keep Sei safe!”

“You have a brother?” Noiz asked, surprised. “Since when?”

“He’s my twin.”

“What?”

“He has a twin.” Johan said with a shrug. “Surprised me too.”

“He’s been hidden from public view because he’s weak. He would be targeted far too often so mother and father hid him.” Aoba said with a sigh. “But that also means that if anything happened to me, he’d essentially be hurt as well.” He looked at Noiz with determination. “Please let me write to Mizuki so he knows and can keep Sei safe.”

“That would compromise the contract.” Noiz said simply with a small shrug before grinning. “Let’s do it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MizuSei development.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update this you guys. I finally got all my stuff back and my laptop is all fixed up again.

“Mi~zu~ki~!”

Mizuki groaned and quickly hid into a small alcove. He had been on his way to his room, a place he hadn’t been staying in lately due to Sei’s mother having him practically moved up into Sei’s room, and he was being chased by a few of the women that frequented that particular area lately. He could hear feet padding across the tiled floor and waited a few more breathes before slipping out of the alcove and continued on his path towards his room. Sighing in relief as he finally slipped into his room, shutting the door as quietly as possible to not alert the women again, he went about cleaning it up a bit. There was dust starting to settle and that wasn’t sitting well with him. Letting his mind drift away with the calming task of dusting off his shelves and dresser, he didn’t hear the door opening up quietly and nearly had a heart attack as he turned around and saw Sei standing in the doorway with a serene smile on his face.

“Sei! You need to stop scaring me like that!” Mizuki scolded but he was grinning at the other. 

Sei chuckled as he moved over to the mountain of pillows that he was so fond of and sat down on them happily. “Sorry. You looked really happy and I didn’t want to bug you.” He heard Mizuki clicking his tongue at him and raised an eyebrow before he noticed the small cloud of dust that had just come up from the pillows he sat down on. He wrinkled his noise and quickly put his hand up to it before he breathed too much of it in. “Ew.” 

A chuckle left Mizuki as he went over to the other and gently helped him up and off the dusty pillows. “I’m gone for a few days and suddenly this place is covered in dust like I’ve been gone for months.” Shaking his head, he grabbed a few of the pillows and patted them down to try and get rid of as much dust as he could before returning to the pillow pile, grabbing a few more and doing the same thing to those as well. Once he was happy with how cleaned off the pillows were, he let Sei lay back down on them. He was about to pull away when he was stopped by the other. “Yes?”

There was a deadly serious look on Sei’s face that was concerning. “You know something.”

“Well I know a lot of things, Sei.” Mizuki said, grinning down at him. “What are you talking about?”

“My brother.”

“Prince Aoba?”

“No my other brother. Yes, I’m talking about Aoba. You know what happened to him don’t you?” The slight hesitation in Mizuki made Sei’s eyes widen. “You do know!” He tugged on Mizuki’s hand harder until the other man was down on his knees in front of him. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“Bullshit.”

“Sei, I’m being honest. I. Don’t. Know. All I do know is that he was…kidnapped a month ago.” He saw the fear flash in Sei’s eyes and he quickly cupped his face gently. “But I got something. From him. This morning. It’s why I came here today.”

“From my brother?” Sei whispered, watching the tan male closely as he took one hand away to reach into his clothing and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. “How’d you get that?”

“Secret.” Mizuki murmured, taking his other hand away from Sei’s face to unfold the note. It was taken from his hands carefully and unfolded fully. He watched Sei read the note and then reread it and then reread it again. Raising an eyebrow, he was about to reach out and check to see if Sei was okay when suddenly the other shoved the piece of paper back into his hands. “Sei?”

“He’s….okay.” Sei whispered, looking at the note he had shoved back into Mizuki’s hands. He wanted to keep the note for himself but it would be safer in the other’s hands. “And apparently the ship’s captain is super infatuated with him? Is that the reason he’s still alive? Because some guy has the hots for my brother?” He jumped when Mizuki started laughing and shoved his shoulder roughly. “Mizuki! I’m being serious! Is the only reason my brother is alive is because that captain seems to like my brother?”

“No.” Mizuki said, laughing as he shook his head. “The captain’s name by the way is Noiz. He also sent me a note alongside Prince Aoba’s note. Said not to tell you or the Prince anything but he’s keeping Prince Aoba safe. Not just because he likes your brother but because he says that killing your brother is…in his words…ridiculously stupid and not worth his time.” Sei looked at him in utter confusion and he started laughing again. “I’m pretty sure that was my face when I read the note as well.” He snorted, grinning. Sobering up, he pulled out the other note and held it up to Sei. “Also, he really does like your brother quite a bit. Says he likes his attitude and spit fire ways.”

“This…Noiz doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.” Sei said bluntly, shaking his head. Mizuki was still laughing and it was starting to make Sei laugh. “I’m serious, Mizu! He’s going to be so angry with Brother sooner or later!” He was starting to laugh harder now as the other didn’t stop laughing. “He’s going to send him back here with a note attached to him saying ‘You keep him!’” That only made the other laugh even harder now, causing Mizuki to fall into the pillows in his laughter. His laughter was infectious, causing Sei to start laughing as well. He sobered up before Mizuki did, watching the other male slowly recover from his laughing fit. “Did Noiz say anything about WHY he kidnapped Aoba?”

Mizuki sighed, shaking his head slightly. “He said there was a reason but he didn’t want to say anything in fear that it could put the two of us into any possible danger. Kind of nice…coming from a kidnapping pirate. But hey, Aoba’s alive. And apparently safe. That’s still a hard one for me to figure out. He’s safe with a bunch of kidnapping pirates. And from the note Noiz sent along, he’s getting along with everyone.”

“It’s kind of funny that Noiz would send a note along updating us about Aoba’s condition and how he’s doing…Think he really likes my brother?” 

“I think he’s very much infatuated with the Prince. Very infatuated, I think.” Mizuki was looking at Sei but the other Prince was looking down at the letters again with a happy smile on his lips. He couldn’t help but gaze at Sei for quite some time, watching him re-read the letters over and over. He stared at his face, taking in every detail; the way his lips curved up into his smile, the way he would toss his head slightly to shake the hair from his eyes only to have to tuck it behind his ears after the third attempt to get his hair away from his eyes, how he was looking at him. Wait. Blinking hard, Mizuki jumped as he finally focused on the fact that Sei was indeed looking at him with a questioning smile on his lips. “Yes?” He asked, trying to hide from the fact that he had been staring at Sei for about five minutes now. Although he could feel his face heating up rapidly. It didn’t help when Sei started grinning at him. 

“Infatuated huh?” Sei asked, grinning widely at him. Mizuki groaned and grabbed a pillow, holding it over his face quickly. The Prince started laughing and scooted closer to him, reaching for the pillow. Of course the other didn’t let go of it at all. In fact, he held onto it tighter than before. “Mizu!” He complained, tugging on the pillow a bit more. “Hey.” His tone changed drastically, making Mizuki freeze and wait. “Stop hiding.” Reluctantly, the pillow was slowly pulled away from the other’s face. “I am too.”

There was a couple of seconds where Mizuki just stared at him before his face got redder than before and the pillow was held tightly onto his face again. Muffled noises came out from underneath the pillow and Sei started laughing. He scooted closer to him before laying down next to him, listening to him grumble into the pillow. 

“Soooo…How long have you known that Aoba was kidnapped anyway?” Sei asked when Mizuki finally stopped mumbling into the pillow. He tugged the pillow away from the other’s face gently so he could hear him.

“Since he went missing and I was appointed your bodyguard.” Mizuki said, turning his head slightly to look at Sei. “Her Highness asked that I keep it a secret from you so you wouldn’t freak out about everything and worsen your condition.”

“Mother knew?!” Sei asked, twisting around a bit to hover over Mizuki with wide eyes. “And she told you to stay quiet about things?!” 

“And this is exactly why she told me to stay quiet. You get too worked up easily.” There was a heavy sigh before Mizuki pulled Sei back down against him and ran his fingers through Sei’s hair with one hand while he held him down with his other hand by his shoulders. “Now just relax. She told me specifically not to tell you about this so don’t go to her asking about things. I think something is wrong. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been assigned to stick with you twenty-four seven. She’s been very secretive lately. And won’t stick around for long when she does actually talk to me.”

“She’s…been doing that to you to?” Sei looked up at him, worrying his lower lip. “I thought maybe she just didn’t want to keep me from what I was doing. But that would explain why she practically jumped out of her skin when I called out to her last night. It was like she got scared to have been seen by me and she ran off.”

“See, that’s suspicious. And with Prince Aoba being ‘kidnapped’, I think something is really wrong and she’s just trying to keep us out of it but trying to keep us slightly informed. I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this.” Mizuki sighed, twisting some of Sei’s hair around a finger gently. 

There was a loud knocking at the door, making both of them jump harshly and Mizuki quickly but carefully separated himself from Sei. He snuck over to the door and hid Sei from view as he opened it up slowly. He expected to see Haruka at the door, asking for Sei like usual. But he was surprised to see one of the King’s closest servants standing at the door. “Your presence has been requested by His Highness Nain. But you must go alone.” There was an urgency in his voice, and fear, that made Mizuki instantly nervous. 

“I’m sorry but I’m not allowed to leave the Prince’s side.” The moment he said that, the servant looked panicked and pushed into the room quickly. “Hey! Stop!” Mizuki quickly grabbed the man’s wrists and spun him around, pinning him to the wall. “What are you trying to do?”

“Telling you something!” The servant squirmed under Mizuki’s hold on him, clearly in pain. “From His Highness! I just needed to make sure the Prince was with you first! Something’s wrong!” 

Glancing back at Sei, Mizuki gave him small look that clearly said to get up and get ready to run if needed. He turned his attention back to the servant. “Go on.”

“You know about Prince Aoba.” It wasn’t a question and Mizuki didn’t answer but the man kept talking. “You know he’s safe. But the real danger is here. The King and Queen aren’t actually in charge of the palace anymore. They’re being controlled by someone else.”

“Bullshit.” Mizuki growled, holding the man down with one hand as he reached into his clothes to grab a knife. He unsheathed it and pressed the flat of the blade against the back of his neck. “There’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed something as drastic as that.”

“But it has happened! This…man, I don’t know his name. He’s been controlling things from behind doors for a few years now. Please. Let go of me so I can explain!” The knife didn’t leave the back of his neck and he let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. I’ll stay like this. But Prince Sei could be in danger soon. His Highness told me that something is going to happen. He couldn’t’ tell me exactly what it was in fear for his own life but he said Prince Sei is in danger.”

This made Mizuki pause for a second before letting go of the servant. “Continue.” He kept his knife up just in case, keeping his eyes firmly on the man in front of him.

The man turned around and looked at him evenly. “I can’t give you any proof other than King Nain’s word. You need to keep Prince Sei safe at all costs. Possibly…possibly even get him out of the palace if need be. I have to go. Keep him safe and out of sight. If you have to, don’t even leave his quarters anymore from now on.”

And with that, he was gone. Leaving Mizuki and Sei confused and worried. They exchanged worried looks before Mizuki sheathed his knife and hid it again before motioning for Sei to come closer to him. “C’mon. Let’s get back to your room. Maybe your mother will come by and we can talk to her.” Sei just nodded, leaning into the other a bit as they made their way back to his room quickly and as quietly as they could.

The moment they were back in Sei’s room safely, Sei practically collapsed onto his bed with a groan. “What the hell was that about?” The bed dipped next to him and he unconsciously moved towards it, feeling the other rub at his back gently. “Seriously. Something bad is going to happen to me possibly? That wouldn’t make things any more suspicious around here at all. I’m surprised no one’s been asking about Aoba more than they have been. Mom seems to be deflecting them saying that Aoba’s just off in the next city, discussing diplomatic stuff.” He sighed and rolled over slightly to look up at the other. “Are you going to take him seriously?”

“Yes. Look, it might be weird but…I think that guy was right. Something’s seriously wrong in this palace lately and I’m not sure what to do. But for now, let’s just keep low and stay out of things for the time being. Have you play the illness card and hole ourselves up for now. I’ll try and get some information about this guy controlling things behind doors.” Mizuki murmured, his hand had moved so now it was idly stroking Sei’s hair like he had been earlier. He stopped, looking down at his hand before taking it away quickly as his face turned red. 

A chuckle bubbled up from the Prince’s lips and he quickly leaned up and pressed their lips together. He stayed like that until Mizuki reacted, finally kissing him back. Breaking the kiss, Sei grinned. “I’m happy to have you protecting me.” He listened as the other sputtered, trying to say something before finally shutting up and just nodded. That got a laugh out of Sei as he laid back down on the bed.

Mizuki smiled with a nod. He went back to playing with Sei’s hair before speaking “No problem.”

It was the lamest thing he had ever said to anyone but he was incredibly happy at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with me this long and I am so sorry it took so long for me to post an update. I will be finishing this fic soon. School starts back up in two weeks but I plan on having it all written up before then so I can post it all up. I love you all <3
> 
>  
> 
> Find me on tumblr at  
> drabblesallday.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting a little tense. Two pirates get confused. Noiz and Aoba make an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such the long wait! I finally got back into the grove of this fic! It actually should be finished up here pretty damn soon!

Happiness doesn’t last long when it came to a missing prince, a confused prince, and an overworked bodyguard. Mizuki had been running all over the place for days, trying to figure out what was going on when he heard the news. 

A pirate ship had been spotted a week away from the city. Sei didn’t want to get his hopes up but there had been rumors of who was on that ship. He wanted to believe the rumors and hope that it was Aoba coming back. And with things getting tense within the palace, Sei truly hoped it was his brother. He missed the other’s stubbornness and ability to diffuse situations. They needed him back in the court. He was mid thought when he felt a hand wrap around his upper arm and pull him back. Yelping in surprise, he immediately started to struggle before he realized who had grabbed him. “Mizuki?” He saw the look in the other’s face and was on instant alert. “What’s wrong?”

“Hush. Come with me.” Mizuki said quietly, letting go of the prince gently. “But be quiet. Something’s wrong.” He waited until Sei gave him a nod before leading the other down the hall and into an empty room. Making sure the door was securely shut and locked, he turned to face Sei before giving a heavy sigh. “Your parents. When was the last time you spoke to them in person?”

“A couple days ago…Are they okay?” Fear immediately welled up within Sei, fearing the worst for his parents. 

“They’re fine. What did they say to you the last time you spoke?”

Furrowing his brow, Sei thought back to the last time he spoke with his parents. “They said…Not to worry and that things were going to start getting better soon. They brought that up after I asked what was going on with the court. Everyone’s been so restless lately.” He watched the other nod, processing the information. “You know what’s going on don’t you?”

There were a few moments of silence before Mizuki finally nodded. “You remember your parents’ advisor?” 

“Toue?”

“Mhm. He’s the one behind all the unrest.” Mizuki explained, watching Sei start to get worked up. He reached a hand out and caressed the frail prince’s face. “He’s been controlling your parents for a few years now. Actually from what I’ve been hearing, he’s been controlling things since you and your brother were born. I haven’t been able to ask around too much without the fear of possibly getting anyone I’ve talked to killed. It’s hard to get accurate information without causing problems.”

“And you haven’t really been able to leave my side either which I know isn’t helping.” Sei said, sighing softly before he bit into his lower lip. “What if-“

“No.”

“But I didn’t-“

“I know exactly what you are going to suggest and I’m not leaving your side for any longer than a minute anymore. You heard about that servant being murdered right?” Sei nodded hesitantly. Even with being holed up in his room he heard the ladies gossiping through the door. “Then you know things are getting worse. That person in particular, had been going around saying that the King and Queen were nothing but puppets and that they knew the truth about who was really in charge. I was going to talk to them but…I was the one who found them.” Silence enveloped them heavily, neither of them wanting to say anything about the current situation. “He wants to start a war. Couldn’t do that with your brother here because he’s too smart and will fight back. He hired someone to ‘kidnap’ Prince Aoba to hold it over your parents’ heads. And now he’s keeping them away from you. Even each other from what I’ve been hearing.”

“So what do we do?” Sei asked, picking at his clothing as he looked at Mizuki. “We can’t just let him do this.”

Shaking his head, Mizuki let out a sigh. “You’re right. Come on. Let’s go back to your room. We shouldn’t be this far away as it is honestly.” Not getting any sort of complaint from the smaller male, Mizuki led the way out of the room and through the maze of halls back to the prince’s private chambers. He watched Sei as he went immediately to his bed and all but collapsed on top of it. “You doin okay?” He asked instantly, slightly worried over the other’s health. He hadn’t been keeping too close of an eye on the other as he hadn’t been exhibiting any signs of his usual illnesses. 

“I’m fine, Mizu. Just…worried and stressed. Nothing new there honestly.” Sei said, rolling over so he was on his back before he sat back up and scooted backwards so his back was against his pillows. 

“I got another letter from Noiz.” Holding up a piece of paper, Mizuki walked over to the other male and gave him the letter. “He knows quite a bit of information. And he’s on the way here. With your brother.”

Sucking in a breath, Sei took the letter and quickly started reading it before he started laughing. “He’s just complaining! Not about Aoba though. That’s a surprise.” He was quiet for a few moments before he sucked in another breath. “Oh.”

“Bingo. He knows what we can do to get rid of Toue. Or just to bring him down to our level I guess.” Shrugging, the taller male slid onto the bed next to Sei and slipped an arm around the small male’s waist. Sei leaned into him comfortably and set the letter down. “So for now, we plan. And wait because their ship is still about a week away from here.”

“So we keep low. Keep asking questions. Plot. And stay in here? Not in that order though or else we won’t get anything done will we?” Sei muttered, sighing heavily as he buried his face into the other’s neck. “Who know things could get this complicated. I’ve only met Toue a handful of times and he always creeped me out but Mother always said that it was because I wasn’t good with people.” Chuckling, he shook his head slightly and leaned more into Mizuki as he felt fingers carding through his hair soothingly. “Think we should prank Aoba?”

“I don’t think he’d be able to handle it if we did something to him at this point.” Mizuki said, chuckling quietly. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Pretending that we didn’t know who he was.” Sei said immediately, feeling Mizuki start to laugh. 

“That’s just mean, Sei! Although it would be funny to see his reaction. Now’s probably not the best time to pull that on him though.”

“Probably not.” Sei agreed, still chuckling before he froze and quickly put a hand up against Mizuki’s mouth without another word. He was grateful the other caught on and gently pushed the smaller male behind him as he drew his dagger out. 

Mizuki could hear the commotion going on outside Sei’s door and jumped off the bed lightly as he heard some crashing going on. He motioned for the other to stay on the bed and keep quiet while he crept up to the door and made sure it was securely locked. It was but that didn’t stop him from being cautious as he pressed his ear to the door and listened. He thought he heard some voices getting louder. His eyes widened as he finally heard what they were saying.

“We were told not to hurt anyone! We aren’t going to hurt you! I promise!” 

“Oh for-Don’t scream! Look we’re putting away the knives, Miss!”

“Calm down. We’re here to help.”

Furrowing his brow, Mizuki couldn’t help but feel confused as he continued to listen. 

“You think no one told them?”

“Obviously, idiot.” 

“I thought Captain sent a letter ahead though.” 

“Doesn’t mean that the letter made it. Or that it’s contents got spread around. Things are dicey here remember?”

“Oh yeah. Think Noiz’ll be happy about this lil problem?”

Noiz? That was the guy that was with Aoba! Chewing on his lip, Mizuki turned to Sei and mouthed ‘Stay here’. He watched the other nod to him before he slipped out of the room and faced whomever was talking loudly outside the room. Clearing his throat, he raised an eyebrow at the two standing five feet away from him. “Can I help you?”

“Oh! You must be Mizuki!” One of them said, grinning widely at him. “Name’s Johan. A friend of Noiz’s. I assume you’re the one he’s been sending letter to. And Prince Aoba. Well, Aoba’s been sending letters to you that is. That Prince o’yours is pretty damn good at describing. You look exactly like what he said you would. Scowling even!”

“I…Wha-“ Mizuki sighed heavily and rubbed his face roughly before he started laughing. “What a jerk.” Letting his hands fall back down to his sides, he watched the two men carefully. They seemed far too calm and relaxed for his liking. “What the hell is going on?”

“Well! We’re supposed to plant ourselves in here to act as some insiders but we kind of got spotted. Thought we were being sneaky.” Johan said, shrugging a bit. “Don’t suppose you can help us out with that bit can ya?” The look he got from Mizuki made him laugh. “No I didn’t think so. We’ll just have to high tail it out of here then. Easiest way out?”

“Through the room behind me but I won’t be able to let you in there.” There was heavy silence before Mizuki whipped his head towards the door as it slid open. “Sei! I told you to stay put!”

Sei raised an eyebrow at him. “Since when did you think I actually followed orders?” Rolling his eyes at the other male, he looked to the pirates standing in front of them. “You two need a way out? Out through the window in here. There’s a hidden balcony. You’ll be able to climb down it and run through the alleys back here.” Another heavy bout of silence enveloped them. “What?”

“I…I wasn’t expecting you to look just like him and from what he told us about you, I wasn’t expecting such seriousness either.” Johan admitted while his friend nodded with a dumbfounded look on his face. “We appreciate the help, Your Highness.”

Mizuki stepped back into the room, keeping Sei behind him as the other two quickly slipped into the room. “Are you sure your guys are cutthroats?”

“Who said we were?” Johan replied, grinning as he and his buddy slipped through the window. “Oh! Your Highness? Aoba says ‘Sly Blue’. I assumed that’s a code for the two of you so there’s that. See you guys soon.” And with that, the two were gone again. 

Frozen in their spots, Mizuki and Sei could only stare at the window before Sei started laughing. “Those were not pirates in any way. There’s no way.” 

“I’m starting to think something really, really strange is going on.” Mizuki muttered, sighing heavily. He felt the other move away from behind him and watched him move back to his bed. Not wanting to see if those “pirates” were truthful, he went to the window and shut it, locking it up for safety before he turned to look at Sei again. “Sly Blue. That was a code word that you two used all the time when we were kids. What does it mean?”

“Time to fight.” Sei said instantly, grinning at Mizuki before he started laughing again. “What? You didn’t think we weren’t taught how to defend ourselves?”

“Aoba, yes. You?”

“I know how to handle a knife fairly well. Brother’s a scrapper though. Mother and Father would get so concerned about him sometimes when he would spar with people. He’s got a good kick. He once had an instructor tell him that he needs to tone it down during practice or else he might accidentally hurt someone.” Shaking his head, Sei chuckled before sobering up with a small sigh. “Something big is going to happen soon. If he’s sending that code word. How far away was the ship?”

“About a week. But I’m starting to think they might be closer than that with those two showing up.” Mizuki said with a small shrug as he sat down on the bed next to Sei. “They’re probably a day or two away. You don’t just send ahead two members of a crew a week ahead to be spies. It never works out.”

“Well you’re not wrong!” The words rang out just as the window slid shut with a dull ‘thud’. 

Bolting off the bed, Mizuki reached for his dagger and almost threw it when he realized who had spoken. “How-When? WHAT?”

“You really should learn to lock all the windows and not just one leading to the balcony.”

“Brother!” Sei exclaimed, climbing out of the bed as quickly as he could before he ran to his brother and hugged him firmly.

“Miss me?” Aoba asked, grinning widely as he hugged his smaller brother tightly.


	7. Ch. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit's starting to hit the fan ya'll let's do this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll I'm so sorry it's taking me so long to finish this thing. Thank you guys SO SO SO very much for sticking with me this long <3
> 
> Short chapter but I'm trying to get into the swing of writing this again so please bear with me for now until I get back into the swing of things!

“So are we just going to stand around here?” Noiz asked as he finally got bored of watching the two brothers hug. He got a look from Mizuki and stared at him deadpanned. “What?”

Aoba pulled back slightly from Sei to glare at Noiz. “Don’t be an ass. I haven’t seen him in months.”

“And I thought you were dead!” Sei said, shoving his brother lightly. “What the hell happened?”

“Toue happened.” Noiz interrupted, leaning against the windowsill with his arms crossed over his waist. “I was contracted to kidnap His Royal Pain In The Ass.” He said, motioning to Aoba casually before continuing on. “But Toue didn’t realize that I’m not the typical kidnapper. I don’t kill unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“And you didn’t deem him killable?” Sei asked, raising an eyebrow. “Because even I’ve thought about killing him sometimes.”

“Sei!” 

Sei shrugged, grinning at Aoba cheekily before he looked at Noiz. “Go on. I’m sure there’s more to this than just that.” He pulled his brother backwards until they were sitting on his bed and he turned his attention onto Noiz and his words. He caught sight of Mizuki standing guard between them and the door, like usual, but he knew he was listening to the blond captain as well.

“Not much else to it. I didn’t feel like there was any real reason to kill him. Toue just said deal with him after giving me quite a bit of money.” Noiz said, shrugging as he looked out the window. Narrowing his eyes, he casually closed the curtain to block the window. “People are getting suspicious.” He muttered, tensing up a bit. 

“Two guys running through the corridors of the palace and yelling out ‘We’re not going to kill you calm down’ doesn’t exactly calm suspicion.” Mizuki said calmly, moving towards the door slowly and pressed his ear to listen for any sort of threat.

Sighing heavily, Noiz ran a hand over his face. “Those fucking idiots.” He growled.

“That’s what you get for sending Johan and Tai.” Aoba said calmly, reaching down to his left ankle and unstrapped the knife he had hidden in his boot. He tried to get off the bed but he felt a slender arm go around his waist that pulled him back onto the bed. “Oof. Sei, let go.”

“No.” Sei said, giving Aoba a hard look. “We need to stay quiet and if someone comes to check up on me, you and Noiz hide.” He looked between his brother and the captain before he received nods from both of them. “Good. The closet should fit both of you so stay near that just in case.” He let go of Aoba and nudged him towards the closet before he faced Mizuki again. “Hear anything?”

“No.” Mizuki replied, concentrating on listening before he froze and motioned for Noiz and Aoba to hide. He heard the closet creak open and shut before he let out a slow breath, listening as footsteps got closer to the door. Glancing back at Sei, he watched the other get comfortable on the bed and then pretend to look as if he was asleep. Smart move. Then came the knock on the door which he had been expecting. Waiting for a couple of seconds, Mizuki listened again and let out a low breath as a second knock came. “Yes?” He asked as he opened up the door slightly, poking his head out. “Can I help you? Prince Sei is resting.” 

It was one of the regular guards. “Have you seen anything suspicious?” Came the quick reply. Mizuki just shook his head. “Alright. If you do, Mizuki, please let someone know.”

“Is everything alright?” Mizuki asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Well…I probably shouldn’t say anything.”

“Come on. It’s just me.” Mizuki said, grinning easily at the guard. “Who am I going to tell? You? Another guard?”

Laughing, the guard shook his head. “Fair enough. There were two men running through the halls earlier that no one recognized. And they had headed this way. We were ordered to do a full sweep of this section of the palace

“Ordered? That doesn’t sound like the King or Queen at all.” Mizuki commented, raising an eyebrow and watched as the guard visibly started to squirm.

“They seemed a bit nervous about everything. With Prince Aoba still missing. They thought someone could be coming after Prince Sei as well.”

“Right, right. I’ll keep my eyes open.” Mizuki said with a grin, nodding at the guard before he slipped back into the room as he locked the door. He immediately pressed his ear against the door and listened as the footsteps faded down the hall. Shaking his head, he pulled away and whistled lowly for the other two. 

Once they were out, Sei popped upright on the bed. “Well that was a complete lie.”

“What?” Aoba asked, his brow furrowing.

“No one knows that you’re supposedly missing. The official word is that you’re off doing official business.” Mizuki replied. “And that’s been the official word since you disappeared. Very few, and I mean VERY very few people know that you were missing.”

“So that guard?” Aoba muttered, his brow furrowing further as he looked between his brother and friend.

“That either his in on things or someone’s been blabbing. My bet’s on the first.” Mizuki said, shaking his head. 

“So there’s more in on things than we originally thought.” Noiz said deadpanned. “Figures. Nothing like this is ever easy when it comes to nobles.” The look he got from both princes made him grow a little uneasy. “Just a thing I’ve noticed in my line of work. No offense. But it is something we’ll have to deal with sooner or later. I recommend sooner rather than later but that’s just me.”

“So what? We just go through the entire palace asking if anyone is in on the whole, “Oh let’s get rid of Prince Aoba” plan,” This came from Sei, who was now rolling his eyes. “You don’t know how the people are here. You don’t know Toue. Not like how Aoba and I know him. He’s cunning and far too smart. We won’t be able to do anything about other people unless we get to Toue and take him out first.” He looked around at the others with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“Never thought you’d talk about taking someone out buuuuuuut it is about Toue so I agree.” Aoba said, grinning at his brother. “He is right. We won’t be able to get to anyone below Toue unless we get to him first. Then the others will come running out from hiding to protect the beloved advisor.” He was strapping the knife back into place, straightening back up afterwards and gave a small clap. “So let’s get this show started! Somehow…what’s the plan?” 

Mizuki, who had been quiet for the time being, finally piped up with a grin. “You two need to stay in the palace. We’re going to have a little fun from the inside out. It might take a few days to actually get this going but I think we can pull it off. I know the hidden passages better than anyone else in this place, I can get the two of you any where in here without any sign of you two being here. You two do have to stay quiet though.”

“Bit of a large request for this one don’t you think?” Noiz teased, pointing to Aoba who slapped his hand away. “But I think we can do that. As long as you can get us through the place easily.”

“He can.” Sei and Aoba said at the same time, both grinning. 

“Mizu is really good with being sneaky.” Sei added, grinning wider. “But we should get this plan going quickly. What else are we going to do once we get these two hidden, Mizu?”

“Iiiii haven’t completely worked that part out but I think we’re all pretty good with working on the go right?” That got him nods from all three of them. “See. We’ll be fine. I’m sure. Just gotta get you two hidden safely for now. If you two have any bright ideas, speak up.”

“I’ve got one. Don’t know how well you’re going to like it.” Noiz said, leaning against the wall. “Depends on how much clean up everyone’s willing to do.”

“We are not dismembering him.” Aoba said quickly.

“Just a thought.” Aoba rolled his eyes at Noiz’s response. “But I do have a better idea. Not as much clean up but it’s something at least.” He caught Aoba’s eye roll and grinned. “You’ve gotten better with the knives. I think you’d be able to do it.”

“It’d be difficult to get him alone. Like I said, Toue’s is loved by a lot of the staff here. Almost religiously loved.” Aoba said, his tone serious now. “Mizuki’s right. This is going to take a few days if we’re going to pull it off correctly without alerting anyone.” He was quiet for a moment before he grinned widely. “But we can do this.” He looked around the others and was met with wide grins from all of them. “Let’s get started. Mizuki, lead the way.”


	8. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's starting to look a lot like MURDER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the encouraging words you guys! I'm working on finishing this up some time soon. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through the LITERALLY years of this mess <3 you all

It was a few days before Mizuki was able to slip away from too many watchful eyes. He was given official orders to stay by Prince Sei’s side no matter what so he had an even harder time trying to move about the hallways and corridors without someone mentioning that it was od for him to be out and about by himself. He was almost ready to slit a few throats if he was asked ONE MORE TIME TODAY. Slipping into Sei’s room, he let out a small sigh as he locked the door behind him. “I’m back.”

“Welcome back!” Sei said, popping his head around the corner of his small dressing area. “You look annoyed.”

“When am I not these days.” Mizuki muttered, glancing away quickly from Sei and tried to hide the small blush forming high on his cheeks. Quiet footsteps neared him and before he could react, Sei was tipping his head to look at him in the eyes.

“Mizuki, what’s wrong?” Sei asked, sternly. “I know you and how you are. Somethings wrong.”

“It’s nothing, Prince.” That got him a heavy sigh from said prince and he quickly dipped his head down and placed a gentle kiss against Sei’s lips. “It’s just what’s going on right now. Too much talk. Not enough action. Too many people in one place but not the right ones. It’s hard for me to get things laid out and planned properly when I can’t find the right people at the right time.” He pulled his face away and couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him. “Sorry. Did that surprise you?”

“A bit. We…haven’t kissed since that one day.” Sei mumbled, leaning into Mizuki slightly. He had already forgiven the other for trying to hide things from him. “Wouldn’t mind being surprised more often like that honestly. Better for my health with those types of surprises than any other kind.”

“I hear your hint and I take it to heart for future responses.” Mizuki said, kissing the top of Sei’s head before he ently pulled the other away from him. “Have either of them stopped by today?” The Prince shook his head gently. “Shit. Was hoping they had. I’ll have to track them down.”

“They’re still in the palace right?”

“Should be. I told them to stay put but knowing Prince Aoba, I doubt they stayed in one spot for long. Or even in the palace at all. And judging Noiz, I really doubt they’re still in the palace.” They both heaved a sigh before tensing up as a small knock came from the balcony window. Sei quickly moved off to the side to allow Mizuki to check it out but before he could even make it to the window, it was creaking open. 

“Don’t you dare throw something. It’s us.” Aoba said quickly, hopping through the window carefully. He helped Noiz through before he dusted himself off and gave the others in the room a grin. “How are you guys?”

“What are you wearing?” Sei immediately asked, taking in his brother’s appearance. It was commoner’s clothes, his well known hair was hidden up in a scarf and he looked very much the part of a commoner. Noiz was pretty much the same but still had that pirate look about him. “Wait, you left the palace!” 

“There’s the scolding.” Noiz muttered, closing and locking the window behind them quietly. He stumbled slightly when he felt an elbow to his side from Aoba and he quickly concealed his smile by looking outside.

“It was for a good reason. We thought our hiding spot was compromised so we ran. But we came back! And I have those sweets from that lady’s shop down by the fountain.” He tossed a bag at Mizuki and Sei, grinning as their faces lit up at the sight of the bag. It was a favorite of all three of their growing up. He had to get some for them. “I even got Noiz to try some of her stuff!” He heard a huff next to him and grinned. “Thought he was going to try and buy the entire place out.” He added, teasing before he quickly dodged a jab from the pirate. “Nice try.”

“So when’s the wedding?” Mizuki asked, popping a piece of the sweet into his mouth, groaning happily at the taste.

“Next week. Didn’t you get the invitation?” Noiz immediately responded, dead panned. “The receptions after we kill Toue.”

“Exchanging vows while murdering? Unique.” 

Sei and Aoba stared at each other for a moment before they both rolled their eyes. “How’d you manage to live with him?” Sei asked his brother, raising an eyebrow.

Aoba shrugged, grinning. “I think growing up with Mizuki helped out quite a bit.” He looked at Noiz again, surprised to see the other was smiling again. To anyone else, it would look like he was barely amused but Aoba knew him fairly well enough by now that he knew when the other was smiling. He didn’t look at old when he smiled. It was cute. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Sei calling his name repeatedly. “What?”

“I _said_ we should really start planning out some more things. We’ve got a vague idea of when Toue will be out and moving around. But we have no idea how we’re going to do it. How we can call him out on his bullshit and reveal him to everyone. Or how we’re even going to kill him.” Sei said, waving his hands around slightly. “I don’t know about you guys but Toue’s schedule it a bit…odd. He never has the same routine. On purpose obviously. But he’s hard to track down even within the palace.”

“So we plan an ambush. Think he can resist finding out the truth about what happened to Aoba?” Noiz suggested, finally turning his head to look into the room. “What?”

“We’re not using Prince Aoba as bait.” Mizuki said immediately. “It’s insane and could get him killed.”

“You haven’t seen him wield a knife have you? Or roundhouse kick a guy off a boat?”

“What?” That came from both Sei and Mizuki.

“He can handle himself.” Was all Noiz responded with.

Aoba cleared his throat, wanting to get the attention away from what Noiz blabbered about. “He does have a good point though. We all know that the reason I was ‘kidnapped’ was because Toue wanted me gone. In a different sort of way. If he hears that I’m back in the palace, he’ll come running to see if it’s the truth.” He shrugged slightly, looking around at the three staring at him. “I can defend myself. I know how to fight.”

“Yes but this is Toue and he has bodyguards. Tons of them, Brother. We can’t let you just go in there alone.”

“Who said he’d be alone?” Noiz muttered, rolling his eyes. “We’ll be hiding. That’s why it’s called an ambush. We just need a distraction, which will be Aoba. The three of us, if not some of my men if we can get them in here, will be there with the rest of the trap. Namely, his death. Just need a solid way of getting Toue’s attention.”

There was silence amongst them before Sei finally piped up. “I’ve got an idea. Mizu and I go the meeting hall. You and Aoba follow behind but in the hidden passages. One leads right into the room. I’m sure I can get Toue away by himself if I use the excuse that I want to talk politics with him. That’s all he ever talks about honestly. We can slip the idea that we saw Aoba returning early that morning and get his attention. Get him to follow us. And whallop. Dead?” He glanced between them before he made an uncertain expression. “No good?”

“No it’s good. It’s really good. We just need to get a look at the room where we could potentially ambush him.” Noiz said thoughtfully, his eyes almost glazing over as his mind wandered away from the conversation. He was brought back to the present when Aoba tossed a pillow at him. “Rude.”

“This’ll work. We can make this work perfectly. Think you two can handle it without causing suspicion?” Aoba asked, avoiding the pillow tossed at him in revenge. 

Mizuki and Sei shared a look before they both grinned. “I think so.” Mizuki finally said, grinning at Noiz and Aoba. “How are we going to expose this man for what he’s been doing to the court though? We can’t just outright kill him and make all these accusations first.”

“That’s why I said the meeting hall. Think of all the people that he’s always meeting with. We can definitely make a scene by calling him out by having Aoba show up after being considered missing for a few months.” Sei said. “The only thing I’m still concerned about are the guards and how-”

“Don’t worry about them.” Noiz interrupted. “I’ve got plans for them. No unnecessary deaths don’t worry. Just distractions.” He could feel their stares and sighed heavily. “And no explosions, I promise.” All three sighed. “Maybe some fire.”

“No!” Was the immediate response from all three. Noiz just snickered. 

 

The plan was set in motion that night after a few more hours of figuring things out. Noiz and Aoba snuck out of the room after one last hug from Sei to Aoba. They made their way through the corridors and to their little hiding spot and they settled in for the night. It was a comfortable little area, just big enough for the two of them with enough space to move around easily. Plenty of blankets and pillows were piled up for them to sleep on, almost like it had been used in the past for someone to hide away for the night. Aoba had been in the middle of removing the scarf from his head when he felt arms go around his middle. Making sure he stayed quiet, he clapped a hand over his mouth before whispering back to the blond that now had him in his lap. “Noiz, what the hell?” He practically hissed. He didn’t get a response from the pirate but instead felt lips move up his neck lightly. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”

“M’not.” Noiz mumbled, pressing a few more kisses up the Prince’s neck before he angled the other’s head back so he could bite the corner of his mouth lightly. He felt Aoba relax back into him, lips seeking out his own. Noiz let their lips press against each other gently before he pulled away and buried his face back into the crook of the other’s neck. “You sure you’re okay with being used as bait?”

“If it’s to finally get things cleaned up, then yes I am. You know more than I do about what Toue’s planning. I know you do and I know you won’t tell me.” Aoba said softly, feeling Noiz tense up. Sighing, Aoba patted the arms around his waist gently. “It’s fine. We’ll get it figured out and get rid of that bastard first and then you can tell me.”

“Sure.” Noiz replied, tipping over onto the pillows and taking the Prince with him. He could feel more than hear the other’s quiet laughter at the action. “We gotta run out to the ship tomorrow to talk to the crew. We should sleep now.” He felt Aoba nod, the hairs tickling his face lightly. He smiled slightly, pressing his face against the top of the other’s head gently. It didn’t take long before they were asleep, both on high alert but asleep.


End file.
